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Griffins
The Griffins are a race of beings appearing in My Inner Life that have been cribbed from ancient myth, and are present in many pieces of media, such as movies and books. Their name can be also spelled "griffon" or "gryphon" in English, but throughout My Inner Life, the creature's name is only ever spelled "griffin". Physical Description It can be seen from the story's text that the griffins in My Inner Life match the classical depiction of a creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and an eagle's talons as its front feet. Because the lion was traditionally considered the king of the beasts and the eagle the king of birds, by the Middle Ages the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. Since classical antiquity, Griffins were known for guarding treasure and priceless possessions. Backstory and Characterisation My Inner Life has the Griffins living in a city just past Dragonmount. According to the fanfic, the Griffins had once co-existed with humans, but after the Great War saw humans enslaving the Griffin race, they grew a great distrust towards other beings, particularly humans, and then founded the Griffin City, somewhere along the way, enslaving dragons themselves and forcing them to move to the Poisoned Lands. Despite the former fact, it seems that all the Griffins (yes, every single one, apparently) are aware of Link's status as the Hero of Time and having saved Hyrule from Gannondorf, with the tale apparently being taught to Griffin schoolchildren. In addition, none of the Griffins seem to distrust Link and Jenna, so much as just stare at them from across the street and occasionally mutter. In fact, quite a few of the townsfolk and named characters seem to fawn over Jenna, though she still acts afraid from the supposed distrust of the townsfolk and cuddles up to Link for comfort when the Griffins begin speaking. Also conflicting this is that Griffins apparently take passengers despite their distrust of humans. Their town's flag also displays a Griffin, because apparently, they're narcissistic. When Link and Jenna walk Dalamar through Castle Town to meet Princess Zelda, the townsfolk are confused that a Griffin can get outside of its territory so easily, despite Griffins being capable of flight. Notable Griffins There are a few notable Griffins along with many unnamed townsfolk in the story. The Griffin Council The Griffin Council are a quintet of Griffins who are in charge of the city and are responsible for the decisionmaking of the race. Dalamar Dalamar is the most prominent of the Council members, and all of the Griffins in the story, period. He is notably the only member who isn't described as elderly, although either the footnotes for the Council imply he is, or LQ simply cannot keep details about the story straight. It's likely the latter, considering he isn't described as having gray feathers or fur. After Link and Jenna find him wounded at Lake Hylia, they escort him back to his home and then leave the city, parting ways with him. High Priestess Alhana High Priestess Alhana (who Link refers to as "High Priestesses Alhana" at one point) is a Griffin Council Member who informs Link and Jenna that the townsfolk are getting antsy because humans dared walk into their city. Beyond being kind about the booting out of Link and Jenna, she doesn't have a very strong characterization or much in the way of a personality. Other Council Members The other three council members are two elderly male griffins and one other elderly female Griffin. They get no direct dialogue, and thus no characterization. Innkeeper The Innkeeper is a slender, tan-colored female Griffin with black eyes, who owns the Griffins Vineyard tavern and inn. She doesn't have much of a personality besides giving a 'hard gaze' to Link and Jenna every now and then. Tara Described as a cream-colored young female Griffin 'decked in dazzling jewelry', Tara gives Link and Jenna a jug of ale, and then sees them up to their room after they get drunk, smiling smugly along the way. She doesn't have any other role in the story. Tanis Tanis is a male Griffin who runs a silk shop. He is described as a lean muscular light brown Griffin with thick colorful jewelry around his neck and ears, and his green eyes are described as 'soft'. He claims to be more trusting than the other Griffins, and also claims to have crossed the Barren Sea and lived to tell the tale. He sells Jenna expensive silk at a discount with the classic reasoning of "it will look beautiful on you". Tower Guards The tower guards are two Griffins who hold spears (despite being quadrupeds) and guard the front gate of the Tower of Elders. They are treated as antagonists because they dared to mistrust the strangers and inhibit Jenna and Link in their efforts to visit a place that is very important to the Griffins' city. Culture and Belief Conflicts As Link's Queen appears to not realize that a human society wouldn't be the same as a Griffin society, a few notable conflicts between the Griffins' town's infrastructure and wares as compared to their location can be seen, along with their opinions on who they trust. These are chiefly brought on by their cut off contact with humans, and thus, it can be brought into question as to whether they'd have anything like any of the below-mentioned features in their city if they don't trade with humans. Firstly, their city is made of white stone despite the fact that the nearby mountains are made of black stone, and no quarries or other mountains are mentioned in the story (even Death Mountain, which isn't really mentioned in the story but is a canon location, isn't made of white stone). Secondly, their tavern serves meat and potatoes, despite the fact that they live in a mountainous region, where one might find it incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to grow vegetables; additionally, the story does not mention a place where the Griffins might rear animals to breed, feed, and eventually slaughter them. Fourthly, the Griffins appear to have stables for horses, despite the fact that in our Earth folklore, griffins and horses are natural enemies and the former preys on the latter. Finally, they have clay pottery, silk, and ale made from fermented roots, despite being barred from leaving the city or trading with humans. The Griffins also use Rupees as their currency even though they are from a different country to Hyrule. In addition to this, Link's Queen seems to have created what is essentially a human society with Griffin body features. They smile and drink from beer mugs and teacups despite having beaks, they sit on chairs despite being quadrupedal, and they walk on their hind legs a lot, even though most non-bear quadrupeds cannot do this at all or for very long, lions being one of such animals. Paired with this, the Griffins hold objects in their talons despite those being the front feet of the creature and not being well-suited to much beyond walking and limited gripping. Category:Characters